Aeroplane safety device



Oct. 25, 1927.

B. LOTH AEROPLANE SAFETY DEVICE Filed Margh 17, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

[3 7 (II E0 10 H- INVENTOR- I \DEN L wr H A TTORNE Y.

' Oct. 25,1927.

, B. LOTH AEROPLANE SAFETY DEVICE Filed March 17, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

BEN LOTH BY AT ORNEY.

Patented Oct, 25, 1927.

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" -'AEnorr.aNn -sAFE rY 'pnjvIcE. f

App lication filed March'17,1926." Serial No. 95,260.

" 'The invention relates to -safety devices particularly intended-toibe'utilized incom bination with means which are described-in myapplication, Serial Number 56,290, filed September 14, 1925, PatentlNo.1,584,876

granted'May 18th,"'1926,"on similar appliancesfto decrease the velocityat which an aeroplane will fall mwardjthe earth." I

The objects of the inventions are to "provide simple, eflicient,economical and durable means adapted to maintain the equilibrium of anaeroplane, equipped with spread wings orfsimilarattachments,- during-itsdescent to earth; and toprovide means wherebyfa jweight, as the engineof the aeroplane, or

other object, may, be quickly and conveniently lowered below saidaeroplane.

Withthe foregoing and other; objects in view, "which will appearapparenta'sthe'de scription proceeds, the invention resides 'in certainnovel features, the combination, ar-

rangement of the parts and in thedetails I of the construction, as willbe more'fully hereinafter described and claimed. j

*Figs l' is'a bottom View taken-in a'nfups'pondin'g 1116 6111 Fig. 3;and i In the drawings ward vertical direction of fan aeroplaneequippedwith'the'invention and shown in operative position during thedownward def 'scentwiththe wings in" open relation i {"Fig. 2-;is aseotiontaken'on -a 1ine corres'ponding to22 in Fig; 1; v

" Y, Fig. "is a plan .viewbf "one wing in spreaded position and showingthe aeroplane in parts broken awayg' *"fFigq l is the samefa's Fig. 3,but showing, 'the wing in foldedpo'sition; j Fig.6 'is a sectiontakenfon a line' 'c 'r're,-..v

f, Fig. 6 is a sectlon' taken on'a" linecorre- The invention isexemplified onaeroplan'e 'or heavier than air mach ne 1 havlng usua'l.

upper and lower planes '2 and-3 suitably secured to' body4; The foldingwingsb, 6,

- 7 and 8, respectively, have their'inner edges 9,10, 11 and 12 securedin close contactwith the adjacent sides of body 45 of theaeroplane.Suitable means are employed for maintaing the W g in spread position,irrespective iof theair'pressure. The covering'13 the open wings; V. Le,

Suitable ineans'are provided for quickly" and conveniently enabling theoperator of .the." aerop'lanemtos'pread the wings." The ofiltheiwingspreferably consists of 'very thinand hght weight material which has jwasuficient tensile strengthto'withstand" the strains to which it{issubjected.

. Theihollowtubes 1 f have their inne-r" i V pivota-llyv connected.with" the sides of the body-of the aeroplane and are suitably semadeofextremely light: weight materiah'as aluminum. Therouter ends of"thetubes-are curved downwardly soathat when, the wings are 'I1n.spreadflposition a iconvexo-concave zoured to the covering -13. *Thetubes are form -15 is represented by the wings HIlClithG :bottomlG oftheaeroplane, whereby as the aeroplane falls toward :the earth the airpressure within the concave side at form 15 con-' if .siderablydecreases the velocityat which the aeroplane travels, when not equippedwith preferred means comprise aspring'op'erated I rotatable drum adaptedto wind ropes or dines-17 fixed to the outer ends of outer tubes :i18-of"the respective wings; whereby by simple operative meansthe wings arecaused to spread from the 'position' shown :in Fig.4

to the positiongshownin? Fig. 3'. cThis form of the device, however, isfully described provide gblottom' l6 'ofithe': aeroplane With "trap-door20 upon which is. mounted 1 suitable 'heavy robject 2l. w-Pivotallyconnected,ias 1 sl1'ownin Fig.7, bypin22, to each outeriend 23 ofoutertubes or rods 18' is arm 24;. adapted to remain in the horizontalposition, beneath tube 18', shown in Fig. :5,'-duringthe period 1 that'-th'e wings are in folded p'osition, wherethe apparatus is unadapted tointerfere "with -the regular and; 'usual operation of flight of theaeroplanef' To further facilitate a neat and desirable; storage of -thewings,

' the folded wings 5, 6, 7 and 8, and arms 24:.

The trap-door is maintained in closed position by bolt 25 slidablymounted in staples 27 and 26, respectively, secured in the upper sides28 and'29, respectively, of bot tom 16, of the aeroplane, and trap-door20.

The ends 30 of lines 31 are connected with inner ends 32 of arms 24. Theouter ends 33 of the lines are connected With'object 21, whereby simplyremoving bolt 25 from engagement with staple 26 permits the ob e.ct

' 21 to fall, by gravitation, through opening 34: thereby pivoting arms24 to the position shown in Fig. 2.

It is very important to provide convenient means whereby. bolt 25 may beremoved from engagement with staple 26 to permit object 21 and arms "24to drop to the position shownin Fig. 2, during the operation of thespreading of the wings, or immediately thereafter. For this purpose thestaff is slidably mounted in hole 36 in bottom 16 of the aeroplane.Attached to the lower-end of the staff is cable 37 having connectionwith end 88 of bolt 25, whereby downward movement of the staff by thefoot of the operator of the aeroplaneslides the bolt from engagementwith staples 26, thereby permit.- ting the trap-door to open, wherebythe force of falling object 21 forces arms '24: downwardly and therebylowers the heavy object a considerable distance below the aeroplane. Itis important .that object 21 is of sufficient weight to lower the centerof gravity of the unit 1- far enough below the'aeroplane to prevent theordinary currents of air from turning the aeroplane upside downduringthe gradual descent. v

If desired the staif my be connected with the means employed to spreadthe wings, so that the same operation of the op erator of the aeroplanemay effect spreading the wings and lowering object 21. Furthermore, itis preferred that staff 3 5 is positioned near the feet of the; operatorof the By the useof the means herein described an aeroplane may becaused to gently float to the earth without injury to the aeroplane orits occupants,'whereas in the past, if for any reason the engine of afiying'aeroplane failed-to actuate,'the only chance to bring theaeroplane safely to the earth'was to glide at a very high rate ofvelocity. and land on a smooth and level'surface. For this reason, the

. danger of personal injury is great while flying in an aeroplane, notequipped with a safety appliance. But persons may fly with safetyprovided my invention, in combination with the wings 5, 6, 7 and 8, isattached thereto simply becauseif the aeroplane engine fails it ismerelynecessary-for the operator to press a button, lever or staff foractuating mechanism for unfolding the wings and dropping object 21, andthe aeroplane and the persons therein will float to the earth withoutmishap,

The object 21, as exemplified herein, is merely a heavy object, as iron,but it is understood that any suitable article, thing, device ormechanism may be utilized for the purpose. For instance, by arrangingthe usual engine of the aeroplane with flexible connections anddetachable .supports, the engine maybe substituted for object 21, or incertain types or kinds of aeroplanes, or other heavier than airmachines, the fuel or gasoline storage tanks may be substituted forobject 21, or in bombing aeroplanes the bombs may be substituted forobject 21, and in freight carrying aeroplanes, which soon may beuniversally used, the freight may be substituted for object 21.

To further facilitate in forming a concave material, whereby object 21is adapted tov bend the wings downwardly, although of course, when theweight of the object is removed from the wings, the tubes will regaintheir original shape so as to not interfere with the wheels of the usualcarriage (notL shown) contacting the ground.

It is apparent that I have invented a I thoroughly practical device forthe purposes intended and which may be advantageously utilized forpreventing the destruction of falling aeroplanes as Wellas savingthelives of the occupants.

While Ihave chosen to illustrate certain forms of the preferredconstruction of the invention by the herein drawings and; the"explanations, it is understood that certain changes may be made, and Idesirethat it thoroughly understood that the invention resides in thecombination, arrangement of the parts and'in the details of the construction, as hereinafterclaimed. For example the construction shown anddescribed of the object and the trap-door, together with the means forpermitting .the object'and "the arms to be lowered is merely one simpleform of the parts forvaccomplishing the desired purpose; The f important.thing,

among others, is theuse of a relatively heavy ob-- ject by Whichthecenter of the gravity of" the unit 1 may be lowered to enable the wingsto be practical and dependable to perg 2 form the intended functionswithout the likihood of the aeroplaneturning over or permitting the airpressure, within the concave portion of the form 15, to escape therefromentirely. I have found by pactical tests that the use of object 21 inthe form o a hea y ig l ai t i th equilibrium of a falling aeroplanewhich is having downwardly curved wings capable ofbein opened andclosed, of a trap-door in said ottom, a relatively heavy object mountedon said door, arms pivotally mounted on said wings, lines connectingsaid arms and said Ob ect, and means to permit said door to open fordropping said object below said aeroplane and pivoting said armsdownwardly, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

v 2. The combination with an aeroplane having wings adapted to beopened, of arms pivotally connected withthe'outer ends of. I

said wings, lines connected with said arms,

a relatively heavy object connected with said, lines, means to retainsaid object adjacent said aeroplane during the normal operations of saidaeroplane, and means tolower sald object below said aeroplane incooperation with said wings in open position, substam tiallyas and forthe purposes'spe'cified.

3. Thefcombination with an aeroplane I having wings capable of beingopened and closed, of a heavy object, arms connected said wings, andmeans to permit said heavy whereby said aeroplane is adapted to'remainright side up during thefdescent.

BEN Lo rrr.

30 v with said heavyobject and the outer ends of 1 object 'to be loweredbelow said aeroplane i

